Control of Immediate Precursor Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Fentanyl as a Schedule II Controlled Substance

Riepilogo

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is designating the precursor chemical, 4-anilino-N-phenethyl-4-piperidine (ANPP) as an immediate precursor for the schedule II controlled substance fentanyl under the definition set forth in 21 U.S.C. 802(23). Furthermore, DEA is finalizing the control of ANPP as a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), pursuant to the authority in 21 U.S.C. 811(e), which states that an immediate precursor may be placed in the same schedule as the controlled substance it produces, without regard to the procedures required by 21 U.S.C. 811(a) and (b) and without regard to the findings required by 21 U.S.C. 811(a) and 812(b). ANPP is the immediate chemical intermediary in the synthesis process currently used by clandestine laboratory operators for the illicit manufacture of the schedule II controlled substance fentanyl. In 2005 and 2006, the distribution of illicitly manufactured fentanyl caused an unprecedented outbreak of hundreds of fentanyl-related overdoses in the United States. DEA believes that the control of ANPP as a schedule II controlled substance is necessary to prevent its diversion as an immediate chemical intermediary